The Real Deal Miami

“False Profits” author: market isn’t stabilizing

May 13, 2010 09:28AM

Economist Dean Baker, author of the book “False Profits” and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said people who are saying the market is on the upswing aren’t paying attention to what is in front of their eyes. Appearing on Yahoo’s Tech Ticker, he noted that house prices were plummeting at the end of 2009, and the federal government put in a series of supports to sustain the market, like the first-time homebuyer tax credit and the large-scale purchase of mortgage-backed securities. But these supports are all about to end, and Baker said he does not see how their absence will drive the market upward. “The idea that the market has stabilized, or that we’re going to see house prices rising any time soon — it’s really hard to see the case for that,” he said.